Thanks Dale and rj! Excellent information! I think we may try the spot repair, cleaning, and resealing first. I'm not sure how thrilled we'd be about trying to get out the old grout for new grout... with a baby on the way, we have to keep the dust down (I remember the first time we had this done it seemed like the dust supply was endless for months). I do still have a bag of the original mix for the grout for some repairs and I do have a few extra tiles, but I'm not sure the smashed tiles are bad enough to warrant all the trouble of replacing them... I might can slip some grout in the cracks since the tiles are the lightest gray immaginable... white would barely show.
And as of today, my husband will be taking a job in Chicago, so we will be selling this house in a matter of months. If I was staying, I'd consider huge amounts of work like regrouting... but with us leaving, I think I'll let the new owners deal with it! Now... since I HAVE to finish my kitchen now... do you think I can install the toekick with just some liquid nails? Drilling and nailing through that laminated particle board is a nightmare... do you think the liquid nails would be sufficient? Thanks, Sarah --- In [email protected], "Dale Leavens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I think it was RJ had good information, you can remove the grout or just > take it down with a carbide tipped knife then clean the loose out of the > cracks and renew the grout in any colour you like. You can buy grout in many > locations, it is only a form of cement. You apply it and pack it tightly > down into the cracks with a putty knife and a float to bang it down hard > into the cracks and with a sponge or rag wipe off the excess. After a little > time when it begins to set up you then wash the surface of the tiles off > vigorously to remove any residue otherwise it causes hazing on the surface > of the tiles. You may also want to push a dampened rag firmly along the > grout line to really close up the pours. After a couple of days you then go > over the lot with a good grout sealer. Usually a silicone product is most > satisfactory but I believe there are acrylic compounds as well. > > If there are cracked and or broken tiles and you have spares they can be > removed and new ones stuck down. do not break them out at the grout line, > raising the pressure there can cause adjacent tiles to crack. A cold chisel > on the tile to be broken and a tap or two with a hammer or score it with a > carbide tipped tool and use the score line to crack then remove the > offending tile. You may need to clean out the space and if a bed of mastic > or mortar it might be necessary to build up the substrate a little to insure > the replacement tile is close to the same height as neighbours. > > If you intend to do this yourself I suggest that you prepare the entire area > to be fixed but make up enough grout to work about a square yard at a time > and methodically make your way through the room. With skill you can do much > more but you don't want a batch of curing grout while you fool with getting > things right and learning the skills and you don't want to get so far ahead > that you cannot get the haze washed off, it is damn difficult to get rid of > the next day when the cement is thoroughly stuck to the finish surface of > the once pretty tiles. > > If you don't plan to do the job yourself at least understand how it is done > when it is done correctly. > > Now there are different finishes people select, some want the grout lines > deep to leave a little shadow but on a floor this is usually bad news, you > usually want the grout to fill the lines quite completely to reduce the dirt > collection. It also probably wants to be polished a little, use something > like a smooth thin pipe or thick wire, something that doesn't quite fit into > the grout lines and polish the grout by sliding the tool back and forth over > the surface. It is a little like floating and toweling the surface of > cement, it brings the cream to the surface which will form a less porous > surface and better resist water carrying dust down into the grout. > > On a floor you will need to seal more often as the surface seal will wear > off with washing and general traffic. > > I think that is probably everything I know about grouting tile. I hope it is > helpful. > > > Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Skype DaleLeavens > Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Missy Mosquito" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 5:36 PM > Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Bad Tile Grout... what can be done? > > > > Hey everyone, > > > > A little over a year ago, I had my entire house floors tiled. It's > > certainly not the most fantastic tile (several have broken in the > > corners already), but it's better than disgusting pink carpet! > > > > The original intention was for a light gray grout, so that it would > > blend with the tiles and not show dirt from my messy husband and the > > menagerie of animals parading around. However, after a million > > times of being asked to choose another color, we finally just told > > the workers to put in white to get the job done. And of course, > > it's dirty in high traffic areas, but does come clean just fine with > > a good scrubbing. My main issue is how incredibly pourus this grout > > is... dirt goes in and there's no way to get it out without using > > forceful water (I have a strong sprayer that gets it up). Also to > > consider is fact that the morons who put it in did a really bad > > job. I'm missing huge hunks of grout in a lot of places. > > > > My main question is... can we just have this grout cleaned very > > thoroughly and then put on a thin layer of the correct color that > > won't show dirt and be less pourus? I have no idea if such a thing > > is possible. There is quite a dip in the grout lines... enough that > > a mop is worthless when cleaning... I have to use the sponge kind on > > it's side to get between the tiles. I would think a reasonable > > layer of new grout would be able to fit in there, and make it easier > > to mop. Would this new grout adhere to the old if I did this? > > > > And... if putting on some new grout isn't possible, what is the best > > method for sealing the existing grout after it is cleaned (most > > likely from the Stanley Steamer crew)? I put on the sealer that is > > sold at home depot, but it didn't do ANYTHING. > > > > Thanks, Sarah > > > > > > > > > > To listen to the show archives go to link > > http://acbradio.org/handyman.html > > or > > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > > > The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. > > http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml > > > > Visit The New Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions >From > > Various List Members At The Following Address: > > http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ > > Visit the new archives page at the following address > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man > > list just send a blank message to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > No virus found in this incoming message. > > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > > Version: 7.1.408 / Virus Database: 268.13.4/476 - Release Date: 14/10/2006 > > > > > To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml Visit The New Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following Address: http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ Visit the new archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
